Red Cross Ruling
Last year, Johnson & Johnson sued the American Red Cross for using the red cross symbol for commercial purposes—but as part of a fundraising campaign.
Now it looks like the Red Cross can still use the red cross in this way. A Manhattan federal judge has sided with the disaster relief agency and thrown out most of the case.
In a decision late Wednesday, Judge Jed S. Rakoff of United States District Court said the Congressional charter for the Red Cross gave it the right to use the symbol — a Greek red cross against a white background — even for business purposes.
The company and the Red Cross had amicably shared use of the symbol for more than a century through an agreement signed in 1895. Johnson & Johnson has also used the symbol on packaging for many of its consumer health products, like Band-Aids.
But the Red Cross angered Johnson & Johnson beginning in 2004 by licensing the symbol to other companies for use on commercial items sold in stores as part of the organization’s fund-raising program.
Link